It is known in motor vehicles to provide a vehicle frame rail or roof rail or other structure by joining together a number of tubes. Sometimes the tubes are shaped and then joined together. In other cases the tubes are joined together and then shaped. Typical tube shaping processes include hydroforming and tube bending operations.
It would be desirable to provide an improved method for the manufacture of a shaped tubular part by joining together the individual lengths of tube via an improved high strength joint to form a tubular assembly which can then be shaped to form a finished tubular part of high strength.